Sanchez: Finding 'relevance' for GOP

Following President Obama's decisive re-election, pundits and party operatives were suddenly scrambling for ideas to make the GOP "relevant" in the minds of voters.

They aimed to fight the perception that the party is stuck in a bygone era of being unconditionally beholden to the demands of big business, insensitive to the concerns of working-class families and urban dwellers, and seemingly hostile to immigrants.

There are many opinions and recommendations for turning around the Republican Party's fortunes, but here are mine:

Reach out to, but don't patronize minorities:

The party has received its fair share of criticism for the perception of trotting out token minority politicians in black or Latino communities. More important than having culturally relatable minority candidates is being able to listen to community concerns, articulate core principles, and relate how they're relevant to that community.

Have a few core principles, don't get bogged down in details:

There are some in the GOP that have strongly held beliefs on specific social or fiscal issues, but at the big-picture level, I believe the GOP needs to focus on three key principles: independence, enterprise and responsibility.

•Independence: Limited, efficient, and frugal government that knows the limits of its authority, enables and promotes self-determination of entrepreneurs, individuals and families, while considering the greater public good. I believe this also includes largely steering clear of the issues of family structure, civil unions, and reproductive rights. Those are matters of individual conscience that should be respected.

•Enterprise: The party should stand for the support and encouragement of business creation, and simplification and streamlining of regulation for new and existing businesses. A requirement of basic self-disclosure combined with competitive equilibrium, can generally establish which businesses are operating ethically and in good faith.

•Responsibility: Responsibility fundamentally defines human civilization. Without it, society soon devolves into a free-for-all of self interest without care of consequences. Politicians should consider what legislation they write, and whether it adds to the burden of law-abiding, productive citizens and businesses, while absolving those that refuse to act or live in a responsible manner.

Businesses should also understand that with the pursuit of profit comes potential risk, and companies should take into account the potential consequences of their actions, and not expect an automatic bailout for the fallout of short-sighted decisions.

Accept plurality:

The United States was founded from the start as a society accepting of diversity of culture and opinion. Rather than insisting on ideological purity on specific issues, the party should say: "Here are the big-picture principles we stand for. If you believe in these, join us."

Perhaps I'm being naively optimistic that people will respond to a message of self-determination and responsibility, but I'd like to hope that we're still the land of opportunity where people appreciate the rights as well as the responsibilities that come with self-determination.

-Edward A. Sanchez is an automotive journalist who lives in North Laguna Hills. He grew up in Northern California's Silicon Valley. He has lived in Southern California for the past 14 years, and in Orange County for the last eight.

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